Stuck
by boshrocks
Summary: Casey and Derek get locked into Casey's room. Will feelings change while they're trapped? Do you even have to ask? DASEY obviously. read and review please.
1. Prologue

I dislike Casey

I dislike Casey. I always have. But I know that I won't in the future.

We were so different. She was a preppy and I was cool. I was a jock and she was nicknamed 'Klutzilla' and hated all sport except dance. She was artistic and smart, and I just wasn't. Although I did play guitar.

We fought from the moment they moved into our house. Actually our first fight was at the wedding reception when our parents got married. We fought about everything and anything. The smallest thing could spark a fight.

Although I would never admit it I knew what those fights covered up. They covered a certain heat between us. When we fought I felt the sparks fly. When I touched her, and I did take advantage of every opportunity, I felt a warmth that had nothing to with the outside temperature. I was there to see her fall. I was there to see her heart broken when my best friend tore it out repeatedly. I had to console her and stick up for her whilst to her seeming uninterested and impartial.

And she was hurt and something inside me prodded my conscience and told me to do something to help her. And usually I ended up helping her, frequently behind the scenes. Despite everything, despite my character, I stood by her and I was completely dazzled as to why I did.

The reason became only too clear when the family left us alone for a weekend. Against their better judgement I might add.

I didn't know that Casey's door was stuck. And I didn't know the handle was broken.

…You can see where this is going.

It wasn't the first time we'd got locked into a room either. For exactly the same reason.


	2. Rare Compliments

Casey paced the room frantically

Casey paced the room frantically. Derek lounged on her bed and watched her carefully. She was like a caged animal, desperate to get out.

"Casey, will you stop that. You'll wear a hole in that carpet."

"You're not helping!" she snapped.

"I wasn't trying to help. Just sit down, alright?"

She huffed and sat down at her desk.

"That's better. Now calm down."

… "Shut up Derek."

Derek sniggered. They sat in silence for a while, sighing at odd intervals.

"So." Derek said.

"So." Casey sounded thoroughly bored.

"Why didn't you tell me your door was broken?"

"Because it was none of your business."

"It bloody is now!"

"I said was!"

Silence lapsed again. A few more sighs.

"Look, I'm sorry Derek. I really should have told you about it. Then we wouldn't be in this mess."

"Then why didn't you?"

"Because we never talk about anything. And you never pay attention to me."

Derek opened his mouth to speak, searched for the thought that wouldn't come, and closed his mouth. He couldn't deny it, because it was almost completely true, and he couldn't agree without sparking a big argument. For once he had the sense to keep quiet and not put the match to the fuse. They were probably going to be stuck in here for a long time, and he didn't want to push his luck. Casey was a bit of a nutjob anyway but trapped in a room for an insurmountable amount of time would probably mean that one of them would be guilty of murder before too long.

"Why don't we ever talk about things?" Casey asked. "You talk to Lizzie no problem. And I can talk to Edwin easily. But not you."

"Well, Lizzie's like me. The girl version of a jock. Edwin is pushing the boundaries of being a girl. He's clever like you are."

It was Casey's turn to pause and feel her brain cells fuse together. "Did you just give me a compliment?"

"No." he said a little too quickly.

"I never thought I'd ever hear you compliment me."

"I didn't."

"I'm not going to argue it with you."

"Sensible girl." Casey glared at him. "What? That barely counts as patronising."

"I'm surprised you even know the meaning of the word."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Casey looked at Derek carefully. "Can I ask you something? And I'm not expecting you to know the answer." Derek glared at her. "Do you know what's up with Max at the moment?"

"Yeah. I do."

"Are you going to tell me? Or would that be breaking your precious guy code?"

"It's only important to me if I like the guy. And the girl."

"Two compliments in five minutes? Where did you put the real Derek?"

"Do you want to know what's up with Max or not?" Casey nodded. "He's not being honest with you. He's seeing other people."

"More than one?"

"Four."

"You've got to be kidding me. I'm not actually surprised anymore. You know Sam cheated on me?"

"He did?"

"Yeah, with Kendra."

"Why aren't you surprised?"

Casey sighed. "I don't love Max. I love someone else. So in a way we were cheating on each other."

"Dare I ask who?"

"No. You don't."


	3. Guitars And Photographs

After an hour of boredom Casey had started writing something on her computer and Derek had taken to exploring the room and searching out some facts about her

After an hour of boredom Casey had started writing something on her computer and Derek had taken to exploring the room and searching out some facts about her.

He browsed her bookshelves and found a photo album entitled 'My Life With Derek'. Curious, he took it off the shelf and settled down on the bed to look through it. It was filled with wedding pictures from George and Nora's wedding and family pictures and general photos of the whole family messing around and covering significant occasions. All had little comments in silver and gold ink on the black paper beside or around the pictures. She looked up at him as he chuckled over a few of them. He noticed there were quite a few of him and that some of the comments about him had been Tipexed out and rewritten.

"Casey, why have you-" he started but when she looked round he decided that he probably didn't want to know.

He closed the album and then noticed what looked like the neck of a guitar case sticking out from under the bed. He bent down to pick it up and Casey almost leapt towards him to stop him taking it out.

"That's private." She said with her hand on his.

"A guitar? You play the guitar?"

"Alright." She let go of him and he pulled the guitar case, with guitar in it, out from it's resting place. She perched on the bed opposite him.

He put it on the bed beside him and unzipped it. The guitar inside was an acoustic one. He also found a folder of music which he looked through while she watched him carefully.

"You write music too?"

"Yeah. I have for years."

Derek stopped on one song that didn't have a title. At the top of the page was a heart pencilled in. He looked over the song itself. It was really good.

"Why didn't you tell me you could play?"

"Well, it's your thing, not mine."

Derek gave her a long look. "We could have used you in D-Rock."

"I've already given you my voice. What more do you want of me?"

"So, how good are you?"

"Don't yell at me, but I'm much better than you are. You know me, I'm a perfectionist, I have to be good at almost everything I try to accomplish."

"Tell me about it. It drives me mad."

"So, how are things going with Sally?" Casey asked casually taking the guitar out of it's case and starting to tune it up.

"Terrible. She's still shutting down my advances. I can't get anywhere."

"Just move on. She can't be that hot."

"Oh she is. But I think I agree with you."

Casey stumbled over a chord she was playing. "You do? Okay, now I think something's really wrong with you."

"I'm serious, Casey. I'm not even sure if I really want her or not. I mean she's hot yeah, but she's not really what I want now."

"Then what do you want?" Casey almost flirted.

"I don't know. I keep chasing Sally because I don't know what I want."

"Do you ever know what you want?"

"Usually yes. Not this time though."

"Can I help in any way?"

Derek smiled at her and she felt her heart skip a beat. "Maybe." He said softly.

"Just tell me how." she breathed.

"Well, there's one thing you can do for me." he inched closer to her.

"What?" she said barely above a whisper.

"Close your eyes." She did so.

A moment later she felt a pair of lips pressed against hers.


	4. Crying in the Closet

Derek knocked on the closet doors

Derek knocked on the closet doors. "Casey, come out. Look this is getting silly. Please come out. I'm sorry okay?" Casey didn't answer. "I didn't mean to kiss you. I was just seeing what it would be like."

"And what was it like?" Casey sniffed with a little break in her voice.

"Surprising. You see I've imagined what it would be like to kiss you for months, and it wasn't quite what I thought."

He thought he heard Casey stop blubbing. "Good or bad?" she said softly, sounding almost like a little girl.

Derek leant against the wall next to the inbuilt closet. "I think I can say that it was very good. I didn't expect you to be able to kiss." This comment earned him another wail from Casey. "Oh. I'm sorry Case, I didn't mean that. I just meant that I thought you can kiss very well."

"Really?" again there was a little break in the stream of tears.

"Yeah. You really can kiss well. So you can stop crying about it now."

"But that's not why I'm crying."

"Oh. Really?"

"Think about it."

"Is this about the insult?"

"What do you think?!" Casey screeched.

"I'll take that as a yes, then."

"Good plan Einstein!" came Casey's desperate wail.

Derek winced. "I'm sorry for that too. We both know I'm an idiot. I say the wrong things all the time."

"You always tell girls they make weird kissy faces when you've just finished making out with them?"

"Apparently I do. I'm sorry."

"How the hell can you still be the school stud?"

"Where were you when I was kissing you?"

"You arrogant berk!" Casey wailed.

"Oh dear." Derek sank his face into his hands and tried to stifle his laughter.


	5. Confessions

"Casey, get your butt out of there this second

"Casey, get your butt out of there this second!" Derek shouted banging on the closet door. "Dad and Nora will be back soon. They called to say that they had to cut their trip short. I'll get in trouble if they find you like this so just come out already!"

"No!" she squealed tearfully.

"I've said I'm sorry like a million times. Can't you come out and talk to me?" Casey was silent but he could hear her sobbing. "Case, I don't know why I kissed you, it was just something I felt like doing. Actually I do know why. And I'll tell you if you just come out."

He heard her stop blubbing. "But I look bad." She said meekly.

"I don't care what you look like. To me you're beautiful no matter what you look like. Even if you're in your Sunday sweats pigging out in front of a girly film or watching Disney with Marti, I still think you couldn't look ugly." The door opened and Casey poked her head out.

"You sure about that?" she did indeed look a fright. Her eyes were red and puffy and she had tear tracks on her cheeks. Her nose was running and her hair was stringy from the numerous times she had run her hands through it in her despair.

"Okay, maybe not all the time." he joked lightly. Her face scrunched up and she started to withdraw back into her sanctum but he grabbed her hair and gently pulled her back out. "No, no, sweetie. I was joking. Here." He let go of her hair and then wiped her runny nose gently. And he didn't even cringe.

"What were you going to tell me?" she asked quietly.

"Do you remember our parent's wedding? Of course you do, it was only a year ago. Well I barely noticed Nora. All I could see was the stunning maid of honour."

"Me?"

He nodded, smiling. "You. And that was the end for me. I was a lost cause. And I knew that nothing could happen. Because you turned out to be my stepsister. Do you have any idea how sad that feeling is?"

"Derek, are you trying to tell me that you love me?" Casey said hesitantly.

"Yeah, I am." He sounded a little surprised himself.

Casey said nothing but her eyes lit up and she quickly withdrew back into the closet before he could stop her.

"Casey?"

Inside the closet Casey squealed happily and then came out of the wardrobe completely looking as though nothing was wrong. Derek turned to look at her. Silently she put her arms around his neck and kissed him smilingly on his lips.

"Does this mean what I think it means?" Derek said pulling away from her a bit.

"Derek, you have got to learn when to stop talking." Casey giggled sexily before recapturing his mouth passionately.

He responded in kind, passionately and deeply. Carefully he turned her around and walked her gently to the bed. They were so caught up in what they were doing that they forgot how close the bed was, which meant that Casey tripped and fell onto it and Derek fell on top of her. Still they kissed.

One of his hands left her waist and crept up her thigh. It was just nearing her tempting panty line when the door burst open with George, Nora, Edwin and Lizzie all clearly having charged the door. Apparently Derek and Casey hadn't heard them arrive or calling for them.

Derek leapt off Casey quickly and she sat up quickly. Both had identical expressions of horror painted on their faces.

"What's going on?" Edwin asked while the adults were paralysed with shock.

"Nothing!" Derek and Casey said together as innocently as they could.

Double bubble here comes trouble.


	6. Reactions

Double bubble here comes trouble

Double bubble here comes trouble.

Or not as it turned out. George and Nora stared at Derek and Casey in silence for a few moments that felt to the teenagers close to a lifetime in length. Derek, as cat like as possible, padded over to the bed and sat beside Casey who took his hand shakily. He did so because she looked like she was going to cry again.

"Well, let's have it." Derek said, taking his and Casey's clasped hands onto his lap.

Still George stayed quiet. Nora, though, broke into a smile. "Always knew it would happen."

"Yeah, about time too." Edwin said while Lizzie and Marti cheered. They left.

"Dad? Say something." Derek prompted.

"I agree with my wife." But it sounded like he had difficulty saying it.

Casey and Derek smiled at each other. "So, are you saying you're okay with it?" Casey asked.

"Don't push it." George stormed off grumpily.

Nora watched him go and sniggered a little. "Don't mind him. He'll be fine once he's used to it. Have fun kids." With that she left, closing the door behind her.

"I can't believe they're okay with it."

"Dad's not, but that doesn't surprise me. Now, where were we before they interrupted?"

"Not while they're in the house." Casey pushed him away as he leant in for a kiss.

"No fair!" he protested, going in for another attempt.

"What we were about to do, would be great to do, but I can't be easy doing it while the kids are in the house."

"So what can we do when the kids are in the house?" Derek smiled.

Casey returned it. "Well we could start with a kiss." She grabbed his face unceremoniously and kissed him hard. "And we can go on dates and kiss, and kiss, and then kiss some more." She finished rather huskily.

Within seconds he was pinning her down on the bed and planting little light kisses on her face and neck.


End file.
